One in five marriages ends within 10 years

The divorces figures for 1996, which on average apply to marriages entered into in the first half of the 1980s, indicate that 44 per cent of the younger marriages will end in divorce. This is somewhat lower than in 1994 and 1995, when the percentages were calculated at 47 and 46 per cent, respectively. Based on the divorce pattern in 1996, it is calculated that one in 10 marriages is dissolved within five years of marriage, and one in five within 10 years.

Estimated divorce rates in Sweden and Finland are somewhat higher. Figures for 1995 show that 52 per cent of Swedish and 49 per cent of Finnish marriages are expected to be terminated, based on the divorce pattern for this year. The comparative rate for Denmark is 41 per cent, while it is 34 per cent for Iceland. Lowest divorce rate since 1989

Ten thousand marriages ended in divorce in 1996. This is the lowest figure since 1989 and 400 fewer than the year before. It is in the youngest age groups that divorce rates, i.e. the number of divorces in relation to the number of married and separated people, is sinking the most. In 1996, men and women in their 20s had the lowest divorce rates in the 1990s.

New Statistics

Population statistics. Divorces and separations, 1996.
Statistics are published in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics, Current population statistics and the Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Population Statistics Vol. III. More information: Randi Jule, tel. +47 62 88 54 64, e-mail: jul@ssb.no or Kirsten Enger Dybendal, tel. +47 62 88 52 96, e-mail: kie@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 38, 1997